Blood Red
by Kamari Targaryen
Summary: Ruby fights a horde of Grimm in the Emerald Forest. Inspired by the Red Trailer for season 1. Slightly AU. Rated T for mildly graphic violence.


**I own nothing. RWBY is the property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth Productions.**

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The girl stood at the forest's edge, a red hooded cloak obscuring her features. Before her, in the clearing, stood three ursas, monstrous Grimm that resembled bears. Two of the ursas were smaller; cubs, from the look of them, while the the third was much larger, with glowing red eyes and wicked sharp claws.

For any normal person, this scene would have been one out of nightmares, one that would send them running in terror. But Ruby Rose wasn't a normal person, nor was she really a girl, at least not anymore. She was a Huntress, trained at famed Beacon Academy, where she had been the leader of the most successful and well known team in the academy's history, Team RWBY. As such, Ruby was not frightened by the ursas, for a Huntress knows no fear, and was more than ready for this latest test of her long honed skills.

_Remember your training Ruby_, she thought, as she sized up the situation. _Remember all those hours training with Weiss and Blake and Yang. Breath and focus. You are the Huntress and the Grimm are your prey._

Taking a deep breath Ruby drew _Crescent Rose_, it's massive, arcing blade held out behind her. Planting the blade in the ground she leaned into her weapon and yanked the firing lever, expelling a round from the chamber. The round struck the smaller of the two ursa cubs, which roared in pain, before charging Ruby like an enraged bull.

"Damn." Ruby muttered, swinging _Crescent Rose_ into a defensive position. She had been hoping a single shot would be enough to drive the ursas back into the forest, but that plan was scrap now. She would have to stay and fight, no matter how long the battle raged.

Not that Ruby really minded fighting the Grimm. She was a Huntress after all. But this was no ordinary battle with a Grimm. Disturbing reports had reached Vale recently of Grimm that seemed even more violent than usual and Ruby had decided to check it out. The reports appeared to be accurate, from what she was seeing. These ursas were indeed more violent and the cub hadn't even flinched when it was shot. All of which led Ruby to one of two conclusions, either the Grimm were evolving or something more sinister was pulling the strings. Either way, Ruby had a job to do and she would worry about theories and speculations when she wasn't in the middle of a fight.

The ursa cub reached her with nearly impossible speed, but Ruby was ready. She swung _Crescent Rose_ in a high arc, bringing it down on top of the ursa's head. The blade of the scythe sliced cleanly through flesh and bone, splitting the ursa's head in two. The ursa lurched to a stop and collapsed before her, dead before it hit the ground.

Ruby barely had time to celebrate her victory before the second ursa cub was on her. The second cub was larger than the first, but it was also faster, and Ruby was barely able to avoid the swipe of its claws. She spun to her right, swinging _Crescent Rose_ around her in a circular motion to protect against the ursa's attacks. As she spun, she switched _Crescent Rose_ into its sniper rifle format and began cranking out a volley of shots at high speed.

Ruby didn't stop to see if any of the shots had made contact with her target as she moved to engage the adult ursa. The massive beast roared in challenge as Ruby approached, bearing its fangs as if that would somehow scare the Huntress off. The ursa's tactic had no effect however and Ruby swung _Crescent Rose_, now back in scythe form, with all her might, hoping for a decapitation strike. The ursa was ready for the attack however, and effortlessly blocked the scythe, sending Ruby tumbling backwards into the cub, which clawed at her as she hit the ground.

Ruby grunted in pain as the cub's claws raked her back, drawing blood. The pain was enough to stop Ruby for just a second, but she quickly regained her composure, swinging _Crescent Rose_ around the decapitate the cub. The adult ursa roared in rage as the cub fell, it's roar drawing howls from deep in the forest.

_Beowolves_, Ruby thought, grinning. Of all the Grimm, beowolves were the creatures Ruby was the most experienced with. Twice in her life she had faced and defeated an entire beowolf pack on her own, a record that had not been matched. That record was her proudest accomplishment on a laundry list of Huntress accomplishments that also included decapitating a nevermore during her first trip to this forest on the day Team RWBY had been formed.

Ruby glanced around the clearing as the howling grew louder, keeping one eye on the ursa, while also anticipating the arrival of the beowolves. Soon enough the pack arrived on the scene and Ruby braced herself for the fight of her life. The beowolves surrounded her, while the ursa remained at a distance, watching. Ruby grinned again and threw herself into the fray, swinging _Crescent Rose_ in a wide arc to hit as many beowolves as possible.

The blade of the scythe made contact with the first four beowolves in the circle, slicing each of them wide open, but the rest of the pack avoided the attack with stunning ease. Shocked, Ruby brought _Crescent Rose_ around in a vertical arc in an attempt to change up her attack. The remaining beowolves again avoided the attack however, moving with astounding speed that Ruby had never seen from these creatures before.

"Oh, come on." Ruby muttered, annoyed. "Why won't you guys stay still so I can kill you?"

The pack leader just cocked its head at her and growled, while the rest of the pack simply continued to circle her like she was their prey. Sighing, Ruby launched another attack, only to have the pack leader deflect it as though it were nothing. Behind them, the ursa growled, as though it was cheering the beowolves on, an act that made Ruby shiver. She had seen Grimm work together before, but only out of convenience. This was something different. The ursa had summoned the beowolves to its aid and they had responded, which made Ruby think there was something else going on. The only question was, what?

Ruby would have to find that answer later, for at that moment the beowolves attacked and she was forced to focus all her attention on defending herself. The pack moved with blinding speed, but Ruby was just fast enough to match them. Changing up her strategy, she moved to attack each beowolf individually, using the others as leverage to launch her attacks. The first attack was a swing of _Crescent Rose_ at the head of the first beowolf. As the scythe made contact with the monster, Ruby discharged a round from the chamber, propelling her into the next beowolf. She repeated this formula several more times, each time using a combination of _Crescent Rose_ and the beowolves' own momentum to set up the next attack. By the time she came to a halt on the other side of the clearing, Ruby had dropped all the beowolves except the pack leader, leaving her with only two enemies left to defeat. Unfortunately, those two enemies were the pack leader and the ursa, not the combination Ruby had been hoping for.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Ruby sized up the situation, deciding that it would be prudent to take out the pack leader first to prevent the possibility of more beowolves arriving on the scene. With that in mind, Ruby turned to face the two remaining monsters, _Crescent Rose_ braced against her hip in its rifle form.

"Come on." Ruby said, addressing the beowolf. "Come and get me."

The beowolf responded by charging her, running right into her line of fire. Before it had closed even half the distance between them, Ruby had gotten off four shots with three of them hitting their mark. The beowolf slowed noticeably after the third hit and Ruby switched _Crescent Rose_ back to scythe form as it closed in for the kill. In one swift, elegant motion, she decapitated the pack leader just as it reached her, drawing another roar of rage from the ursa.

This time however, no other Grimm responded and Ruby knew she had the battle won. She hefted _Crescent Rose_ over her shoulder and charged the ursa, dropping down to avoid the swing of its claws as she reached it. She then swung the scythe upward with all her strength, slicing the ursa in two as she had with many a beowolf in the past.

As the two halves of the ursa collapsed on either side of her, Ruby came to a stop, glancing back at her handiwork. The mutilated corpses of twenty some Grimm lay scattered about the clearing, their ichor glistening blood red in the light of the moon.

"Well, that was fun." Ruby muttered, stowing _Crescent Rose_ in its deactivated travel form as she spoke. "Nothing like a fight with some Grimm to get the blood pumping." She grinned to herself, wondering what Weiss, Blake, and Yang would say when she told them about this battle. Knowing them, it would probably be a combination of praise from Blake and Yang, and criticism from Weiss, who always had something to say about Ruby's choices. Ruby couldn't honestly blame Weiss for that though, as she did have a tenancy to act without thinking, which in this case had gotten her wounded. One of the beowolves had caught her on the side with it's claws and blood was seeping through the fabric of her clothes. It wasn't a deep cut though, so Ruby wasn't worried. She'd take care of the wound once she was back in Vale.

The more pressing thought on Ruby's mind was her suspicion that something else was behind the growing boldness and increased power of the Grimm. She still didn't have any idea what that something else could be, but she was determined to find out. For where darkness gathers, evil breeds and Ruby would stop at nothing to stamp out evil for good.

**End.**

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**A/N: And that's my first RWBY fic. This fic was inspired by the Red Trailer for season 1 and serves as the first of four trailers (for lack of a better term) for my upcoming multi-chap RWBY fic. The second fic will focus on Weiss, the third on Blake, and the fourth on Yang. Each will set up certain aspects of the the multi-cahp, which is set ten years after the start of season 1. The set up from this fic was Ruby's suspicions about the growing power of the Grimm and what is causing it. Also, I know that smaller ursa's aren't technically cubs, but I used that term to distinguish them from the big one I had Ruby fight. Anyway, that's all I have for now. Hope you enjoyed. Cheers, KT. **


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